We'll play it by ear. GameFreak may not release every pokemon, or release them as both male and female, key factors in the DW metagame. Though I had some ideas about changes to the tier if we come to the point where it's too similar to OU with a different banlist

So what exactly happened to Ditto? I was on IRC the other day and a few reputable DW players mentioned that it sort of petered off. Did we overestimate its ability to reverse sweep entire teams? Is it merely "a niche" Pokemon now? It's currently #43 for reference btw.

It is definitely not a bad Pokemon, but I can see why this is happening. While it threatens set-up sweepers and practically makes them unviable, it doesn't do so well against Choice item users or common stall Pokemon. The best it can do to Pokemon such as Slowbro is use their status move of choice against them. It also can only speed tie Choice Scarf users, while Choice Band/Specs users can't have their item boost stolen. Specs Keldeo, for instance, can OHKO Ditto with Secret Sword if it took some residual damage, while Ditto does around 55% with Secret Sword. It also. unfortunately, can't trap Chandelure locked into Overheat or something besides Shadow Ball.

So yeah, while it makes set-up sweepers run screaming, it matches up not so well with the other 90% of the metagame. Even so, I still think Ditto is worthy of a teamslot if your team struggles with set-up sweepers.

So what exactly happened to Ditto? I was on IRC the other day and a few reputable DW players mentioned that it sort of petered off. Did we overestimate its ability to reverse sweep entire teams? Is it merely "a niche" Pokemon now? It's currently #43 for reference btw.

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The short answer is yes, we did overestimate it. That's because BW is, for the most part, a bulky offense metagame. Bulky offensive teams don't tend to be swept by choice-locked pokemon like Ditto usually is. When we had come out of gen4 where entire matches were won and lost with one turn of setup for the most part, Ditto would have been dominant. Imagine coming in on a +2 Lucario or a Nasty Plot Azelf, etc. Even the things Ditto can counter best like Excadrill and Keldeo can all be beaten without switching via Balloon and Secret Sword. Ditto probably shouldn't be #43 but we definitely gave it too much credit before we knew what the metagame would become.

I think it's all down to your team composition, and what else is in your team. Thundurus obviously has a lot more offensive presence and is blessed with a higher speed stat, however Zapdos can form as a great defensive pivot, and when invested correctly can wall opponents on either sides of the physical / special spectrum.

From my experiences in Dream World, I've found Zapdos to be very effective. It fits great on Rain Teams, adding a valuable electric immunity that can be troublesome for Rain abusers, namely Keldeo and Manaphy. The main selling point of choosing Zapdos over Thundurus is the recovery, Zapdos can continuously switch in even with Stealth Rock up and heal off the damage, whereas Thundurus who lacks recovery and is more frail than Zapdos does not have recovery. This is definitely notable when Thundurus does like to abuse Volt Switch, as it will be switching in and out a lot, racking up even more Stealth Rock damage.

This is not to say Zapdos is better than Thundurus, both have their own merits. But as I said earlier, it's all down to the rest of your team. Thundurus can work really well in offensive rain teams when you get hazards down quick -- often Thundurus only needs Stealth Rock or a layer of Spikes to ensure the KOs it needs. On the other hand, Zapdos would work well on a more defensively inclined team, an example would be a team utilizing Toxic Spikes support. Zapdos with its recovery can keep switching in and Roosting off the hazards damage, while stalling out an opponent with Toxic Spikes. Both of these Pokemon have their uses, it's just finding the right support for them to make them work.